People making themselves deaf

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So many people out in the big busy city wearing earbuds that essentially makes them deaf. A big truck could be bearing down on them and they'd be oblivious to it. I wonder how many get run over.

Two things come to mind:

The Associated Press
Published: May 19, 2022, 1:41 PM
Tags: Florida
Teen wearing earbuds hit by train while walking on tracks

https://www.local10.com/news/florida/20 ... on-tracks/
"
EDGEWATER, Fla. – Police say a 14-year-old Florida girl was critically injured when a train struck her as she walked along the tracks.

The conductor told a 911 dispatcher that the train hit a “juvenile trespasser” Monday afternoon.

Edgewater police say the impact threw the teen into a wooded area.

She was airlifted to a hospital in nearby Daytona Beach with injuries to her lower body.

Members of the girl’s family told FOX 35 in Orlando that they believe she was wearing earbuds and didn’t hear the train, which approached from behind in the same direction in which she was walking.

She was in a coma on Thursday.
"

and


Panasonic makes vacuum gadget to rescue wireless earbuds from train tracks
Nearly a thousand earbuds were dropped in three months in Tokyo
By Sam Byford Nov 6, 2020, 2:57am EST

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/6/2155 ... nic-vacuum
"
Panasonic is working with one of Japan’s biggest railway companies to solve a new problem that has sprung up in recent years: a rise in people dropping wireless earbuds onto train tracks.

JR East, the part of Japan’s formerly private railway group that covers the Tokyo and Tohoku regions of the country, says that there were 950 incidents of dropped earbuds across 78 Tokyo train stations in the July-September quarter, Jiji Press reports. The figure apparently accounts for a quarter of all dropped items.

According to JR East, station staff normally use a grabber-style “magic hand” tool to pick up larger items that fall onto tracks, like hats or smartphones. But the gravel between the rails makes smaller objects — like, say, a left AirPod Pro — more difficult to retrieve, meaning staff sometimes have to wait until after the last train.

To combat the issue, Panasonic has been tapped to collaborate with JR East on a vacuum cleaner-style device that is said to be much better suited to picking up stray earbuds. You can see it in the picture above.

The device is being tested at Ikebukuro station, a major hub in northern Tokyo, and early results suggest it works much faster than the traditional grabber.
"

And it's not only earbuds,

Train’s horn blared before man wearing headphones was hit on tracks, Wisconsin cops say
By Kaitlyn Alanis
October 15, 2021 5:06 PM
https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation- ... 40937.html

"
Now, the sheriff’s office — in partnership with the victim’s family — want others to learn from this tragedy with hopes of preventing future collisions.

“Before this accident, I would have thought that there was no way a person would not know there was a train coming,” Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis said. “I was down at the scene and observed a train come through and left there with a whole new appreciation for how a tragedy like this could easily occur.”

First, the sheriff’s office asks that people use caution when wearing headphones around any “potential hazards” and know that they can reduce your situational awareness.

“This is particularly true in many of the noise-canceling headphones that can prevent the user from noticing auditory clues of imminent danger by greatly reducing the ambient noise,” the post said.
"

Usually I'm advised by Aspies here to wear earbuds or noise-cancelling headphones in public to help cope with the noise. But I don't, for the exact reasons the OP described.

Am I the only one who thought this thread was going to be about listening to heavy metal music very loudly

My girlfriend wears one earplug most all the time even at home due to anxiety about possibly hearing loud noises like the fire alarm going off or background noises like people talking. I suspect it's partly an OCD thing & wearing an earplug reduces a trigger. She tends to mishear things a lot & having an earplug in is probably a factor but not the only one.

People come onto the grounds where I work after dark when the areas are closed to the public. And I have to stand in front of them waving my arms before they're aware I'm there. It's like snapping them out of a trace.

Sometimes they're so disoriented I have to walk them back to the public sidewalk. So often it's both they can't hear anyone calling out to them, and they're so absorbed looking at their phone screen, they not really looking at where they're going.

When I was a kid in the 80s adults said we were all going to grow up deaf and antisocial because of our Sony Walkmans. Or is it Sony Walkmen? Whatever I'm antisocial and hard of hearing, but I don't think it's because I listened to a Walkman.

I do use earbuds in some environments but am just too uncomfortable to not be able to hear the surrounding sound when I'm out. It just feels very unsafe to walk without being fully aware of the surroundings. It's like an instinct. I can't believe that those accidents actually happen. I wonder what those people are thinking.

That's why some earbuds/headphones come with the ambient sound mode, which actively picks up the surrounding sound.

I've always been pretty good at absorbing noisy environments like a mall or amusement park. Individual sounds get to me. Like loud clomping shoes, leaf blowers etc.

I kinda don't bother looking when I cross the road. I guess I don't care. Nihilism from longstanding Melancholic Depression is fun (it's probably not fun). If you already feel dead, what does it matter? I apparently need to work on this, feeling alive (I'm on the right medication).

Even if I lost hearing from fun stuff (it's not really fun), it's mostly high frequency, so I can hear cars fine. I maybe rely on such when crossing the road, maybe not. Dunno, really, which probably means I don't.

I'm fortunate that I've never liked loud sounds. I just can't stand them, and avoid them like the Plague. So I doubt that this would be the cause of any hearing loss I have.

Deafness is no fun.
I've been hearing deficient from a young age.
Now I don't bother listening to much music because worsening hearing loss and tinnitus makes it sound like crap (buzzy).
If I wear ear buds, the nice phone tells me that I will damage my hearing if they're too loud and I can't turn it up enough to actually hear anything.
There's probably a setting for that but I haven't found it.

Having said all that, I'd rather have my wits about me and hear what I might hear, especially out and about.
Never understood people who have the plugs in on nature walks.
Let's drown out that terrible birdsong?

People should never walk on railroad tracks period. Even if they are not wearing any headphones or ear buds.

Sometimes someone plays loud music in enclosed spaces such as the bus and the Litterbox

The litterbox at my slave plantation is like an echo chamber

The hand dryer way too loud already

Has given me headaches

I hated loud sounds when I was little but I was kinda forced to be around loud noises sometimes & kinda learned to tune the noise out. My 1st job was a dish-washer. There was not much else I could do with my disabilities & no experience. Wearing earplugs or earbuds was not allowed at any of the 3 jobs I had. I tried to focus on my work as best I could & it helped me tune the noise out. Perhaps my ADD works in my favor for this. My dad worked in construction till he retired a year & a half ago(contractor didn't have much work going on & dad didn't want to look for work) & dad sometimes needed my help with things at home that were related to work or projects for the house. Dad's hearing is not the best sometimes probably due to work but he also has ADD & seems to be selectively deaf. He hears fine when he wants to hear something but he might not hear you at all if he's not paying attention.

Unknown whether ear buds were involved but go from the 7:47 to 9:47 time points in this,